Oktagon MMA 135-Pound Champion Jonas Magard: ‘I’m Living Two Lives’

Linear bantamweight titleholder Jonas Magard was surprised by the popularity of Oktagon MMA in the Czech Republic.

Magard (13-5, 2-0 Oktagon) is only a few days away from facing interim Oktagon champion Gustavo Lopez in a unification bout that’s headlining Saturday’s Oktagon 41 event. Magard captured the belt in November 2021 when he outpointed Filip Macek on all scorecards at Oktagon Prime 4. “Shark” was supposed to face Macek again in December, but Magard was forced to pull out of the fight after breaking his jaw, and Macek lost the chance to recapture his belt after being submitted by Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Lopez. Ahead of his next assignment, Magard sat down with Sherdog to discuss his popularity from being champion in a rising European mixed martial arts promotion. While he’s relatively unknown in his country, Magard stated people are asking for photos with him on the streets in the Czech Republic.

“I would be very proud of showing family and friends just about Oktagon because right now, it is like I'm living two lives. When I'm in the Czech Republic, I'm very famous there. I feel like people are running after me and stopping me on the streets, want to take pictures and stuff, and then when I come back home to Denmark, my neighbor doesn't even know what I'm doing. It's like living like two lives in a way.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:41) Training in the U.K.
(01:41) Preparing for Lopez
(02:06) Celebrating Easter
(02:38) His weight situation
(03:26 Defeating Macek
(04:39) Fighting in a five-round clash
(05:41) What he expects from Lopez
(07:28) Facing a UFC veteran
(08:48) Commenting on Oktagon MMA’s rise in popularity
(11:36) The situation of MMA in Denmark
(14:19) Whether he has any emotions ahead of the fight
(15:17) Outro